How would you help a child who speaks a different language to communicate his needs? How can you help him warm up to other children? What problems do you think could arise?

Did they say anything in their discussion that you haven't heard before? What do you think of getting the other children involved in teaching a new language? Did they offer solutions that you could use? What 3 phrases would you want to know in another language to help a child? What 3 phrases would you want to know if you were the child?

Main Point:

• Integration is as much about making a child feel safe and welcomed, i.e., "nurturing a sense of belonging," as it is about teaching English

Strategies:

• Ask a parent to share key words from their language ahead of time
• Keep the child close to you
• Name objects in which a child shows interest & have all the kids repeat the word
• Have some familiar items around, like familiar food
• Plan activities that don't rely on knowing language (If time allows, you might want to briefly brainstorm games or activities that are easy to learn and don't require language)

What are other sources of comfort? Is food something you would consider a comfort to someone? What are the connections between food and culture?

Consider what you do with your kids. How often are they exposed to new food, new things? How often do you offer something from their own culture? What else belongs on the list of things that comfort? What could you do to integrate diverse children?

Main Points:

• Hispanic isn't a single culture
• Foods represent history and culture

Strategies:

• Get to know the child's family, culture, and language
• Support the child's native language
• Provide some activities that don't depend on language
• Encourage friendships among the children in your care
• Make links between various cultures (e.g., a new food tastes like a familiar food)

How can you use cooking to help familiarize children with different cultures? What cultures have influenced your cooking?

What different foods can you introduce to your children? What culture does the food come from? What cultures do your children come from? What foods could you prepare or learn about that would have special meaning to your children? Do you have stories about how to prepare the food? Why is it prepared a certain way?

Main Points:

• We model language
• Cooking is an excellent way to expose children to other cultures; Everything from how the food is prepared, to the story behind why you eat the food and the proper manner of eating can all be cultural learning experiences

Here's your chance to think about how to apply what you've learned. What would be the benefits of a family portrait for sharing culture or making a child feel included? How would you start the activity? What would you need? How would you get the children interacting?

What did you see that you could use? What might you add to the activity? How would you offer the opportunity to share?

Benefits for Children:

• Teaches acceptance through identifying similarities between families
• Promotes communication and comparison of differences
• Encourages language development and critical thinking through questioning